Micheál Martin in unique yet pivotal role ahead of St Patrick's Day meeting with Trump

This St Patrick’s Day, Taoiseach must seek to build bridges between the Trump administration and an increasingly jittery EU

Taoiseach Micheál Martin (left) and US president Donald Trump (right). 

With the world’s power axis dramatically shifting, Micheál Martin must create his own Enda Kenny moment out of the trip to the White House next month.

Just four weeks in office, Donald Trump has turned the world on its head and is reshaping geopolitics more than at any other time since the Second World War.

A new terrifying alliance between the US and Russia is emerging, and Europe, grappling to keep up with the whirlwind changes being announced by the Trump administration, is dramatically increasing spend on defence, with talk of a European army and commitments from some to send peacekeepers into Ukraine.

In constant reactionary mode, European politicians last week gathered remotely for an emergency meeting to discuss the implications of tariffs, while this week has begun with another emergency summit of leaders in Paris on the issue of security and Ukraine.

When he travels to Washington for the annual St Patrick’s Day event, Mr Martin could be the very first EU leader to meet the new US president in the Oval Office at a time when a strong, stable, but forceful, voice has never been needed more.

US president Donald Trump and then taoiseach Enda Kenny outside the West Wing of the While House on March 16, 2017. In 2025, Trump has commenced his second presidency reshaping geopolitics more than at any time since the Second World War. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty

It may be that an Irish voice is the first to deliver an EU message which Mr Trump may not necessarily want to hear.

Despite much speculation around Leinster House, officials are confident that the Washington schedule will go ahead as usual, and have stressed that an official invitation is never extended under any administration. Instead, contact is made and the meetings are choreographed down to the minute by White House officials working with embassy staff in the background.

When the Taoiseach met and spoke with JD Vance on the fringes of an AI summit in Paris last week, the US vice president was aware of the upcoming St Patrick’s Day trip.

As of now, Taoiseach Micheál Martin will fly out to the Republican stronghold state of Texas, which has also become a hub for the tech sector in recent years, before travelling on to Washington to meet Mr Trump.

As leader of a neutral state on the periphery of the EU, the Taoiseach now finds himself in a strangely unique yet pivotal role, where he must speak not just for Ireland but the entire bloc of 27.

Enda Kenny's 2017 visit

Back in 2017, when questions were also raised over whether the newly-elected US president would continue the St Patrick’s Day tradition, then taoiseach Enda Kenny used his time in Washington to deliver a strong message.

While not referring directly to Mr Trump’s travel ban on visitors from six predominantly Muslim countries, which at the time was tied up in the courts, Mr Kenny gave a pointed speech on immigration.

“It’s fitting that we gather here each year to celebrate St Patrick and his legacy,” he said. “He, too, of course, was an immigrant. And though he is, of course, the patron saint of Ireland, for many people around the globe, he is also a symbol of, indeed, the patron of immigrants.

“Mr President, as a small island on the edge of Europe, a natural bridge between the United States and Europe, and as a committed member of the European Union and a close friend of the United States, we will work hard with you, Mr President, and with your administration in pursuit of strong and open relations between the United States and the European Union, including the strong trade relationships for the mutual benefit of millions of people either side of the Atlantic.”

The comments triggered an article in The New York Times which suggested that Mr Kenny had “lectured” Mr Trump, while a video of the speech posted online by Channel 4 News went viral.

But that was at a time when Mr Trump was talking about building walls along his own border, not demolishing the entire international rules-based order.

Then taoiseach Enda Kenny and US president Donald Trump at the White House shamrock reception in 2017. This year, Taoiseach Micheál Martin will effectively speak for the EU as Trump sets about trying to dismantle the rules-based world order. Picture: Olivier Douliery/Getty

Mr Kenny did choose to make the remarks to hundreds of invited guests and administration staff during the shamrock ceremony, thus ensuring that both Mr Trump and the team positioned around him heard the message. It was a tactically astute move, and one which Mr Martin would be wise to repeat.

Government sources have pointed out that Ireland has always seen itself as “a bridge between the US and EU”, suggesting that this will be integral part of Mr Martin’s messaging in the US.

“Whenever we go abroad, we always speak with an EU hat on and an Irish hat,” said one source.

Mr Martin’s own admission that Irish people are “blissfully unaware” of the existential fear now felt by many EU states, which has sparked some countries to divert funds away from social protection and into defence capabilities, means he will have to chose his words wisely to reflect both views.

However, given the speed and magnitude of the changes coming from the White House, Mr Martin’s Washington speech has suddenly taken on a new importance.